InnerTeub

Lately I’ve been talking with my parents about (well, it might have now crossed over into the realm of ‘lecturing’, but they’re being polite about it, so) eating and “real food” and the evils of processed grains and sugars and all that over food douchery stuff that Paleo/Primal people (that’s me) will talk your ear off about if you let them. My parents are quite healthy, but food snobbery needs no excuse, and I was eager to share with them an article at Mark’s Daily Apple. This article suggests you don’t necessarily have to accept the slow degradation of your body and your health over time – that some of the issues that require pills and doctor visits and daily annoyances might not be inevitable:

The truth is, if you never undertook to live a Primal lifestyle, the chances are still pretty good that you might enjoy a “relatively comfortable” existence for a substantial part of your life – until the wheels inevitably started to fall off. Millions of people around the world “get by” just fine in their obliviousness on the SAD (Standard American Diet), only 10 or 30 pounds overweight, a little arthritic, maybe some GERD for which they gladly take a pill. Some people even appear to thrive for a while on less-than-ideal diet and exercise programs. Even I did “adequately” on the Conventional Wisdom plan for a long time, and I’m pretty sure I’d still be doing reasonably well today had I not adopted this PB strategy myself. Of course, I’d be a little more decrepit and arthritic, less energetic, a little weaker and sick more often, and I’d probably still have IBS. And if I didn’t know any better, I’d think all that was normal for a 57-year-old man, so I might even label myself “content.”

A good friend of mine has psoriasis, but it goes away when he avoids gluten. Another friend has IBS that goes away on a gluten free diet as well. I get migraines, but not when I cut out grains, and my recurring heart problems stabilize when get enough water, protein, and cut down on sugar. All of things things could be medicated away, but why? It’s so hard to change the way you eat, but relative to the money and emotional expense of medication, isn’t it worth it? It makes me think about what type of aging I’m willing to accept and what I can actually, actively impact.

It’s a not a total coincidence that I’m think about this after a 19 hour road trip where I lived on Red Bull and fast food. I actually, literally, apologized to myself as I would eat, thinking “I just need to get this drive over with, and then I can care again.” Which: I know better – eating “right” is not a pick and choose your moments kind of battle, not if you want to sustain a long and healthy life, but goddamnit, do you people know how BORING Ohio is to drive through? DO YOU? [cut to Liz, missing the point, again]

ANYWAY, new day and all that. And I’m back to making my choices and thinking about the health I want to have, and reminding myself that I can have an immediate and daily impact on the way I grow up and grow old.